Shomesh Kumar v. State (Govt. of NCT of Delhi)
(2018) 250 DLT 11
In the High Court of Delhi
B.A. 995/2018
Before Justice Sanjeev Sachdeva
Decided on May 24, 2018

Relevancy of the Case: Bail application in a case involving rape allegations, false promise of marriage, and capturing of obscene photographs

Statutes and Provisions Involved

• The Information Technology Act, 2000 (Section 67A)
• The Indian Penal Code, 1860 (Section 376, 506)

Relevant Facts of the Case

• The petitioner came in contact with the prosecutrix when she was doing her engineering in 2013. One day, he called her at his house on the pretext of some function.
• However, he intoxicated her cold drink and committed rape on her. When the prosecutrix confronted him about this, he promised to marry her.
• In May 2016, he sent her an SMS asking her to meet him at Lodhi Park in Delhi. He again misbehaved with the victim and threatened to post her photos on the internet.

Prominent Arguments by the Advocates

• The petitioner’s counsel argued that there was an unexplained delay in filing the FIR. The prosecutrix filed the FIR in November 2017. There is about an 18-month gap after the last incident in May 2016. Further, he submitted that the petitioner was not in Delhi in May 2016. He was attending his college in Punjab, which can be confirmed via the biometric attendance system and CCTV cameras in his college.
• Further, he submitted that there is no evidence on record to show that the petitioner extended any threat to the prosecutrix.

Opinion of the Bench

• The petitioner has been in custody for approximately five months now. The petitioner’s counsel has made a clear case for the grant of bail.

Final Decision

• The court allowed the petition and granted bail to the petitioner, subject to conditions.